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(#1) Club 33's Name Has Mysterious Origins
The origins of the name "Club 33" are as mysterious as what lies within. If you ask the park staff, they'll say it refers to the club's prior address at "33 Royal Street" right in the heart of New Orleans Square in Disneyland. This was back when the club was unnamed. A former Club 33 manager, Mr. Roger Craig, has another explanation for the number, though.
When the club was first constructed and opened in 1967, Walt Disney had died and the club still had no official name. Since the corporate VIP club was built to support its sponsors, Roger Craig says it was the number of investors that made up the new name. At the time there were 33 investors in the theme park including General Electric, Ford, and Pepsi-Cola.
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(#2) The Set Designer For Gone With The Wind Designed The Look For Club 33
In the early to mid-'60s, Walt Disney was working with various sponsors for additional attractions that were in the works at his park. It was these large corporate sponsors who preferred the idea that there be somewhere in the park that felt exclusive. Namely, General Electric executives wanted a lounge area to wine and dine in.
To satisfy Disney's partners, Club 33 was built into the plans for New Orleans Square in 1966. The design for the secret restaurant was thought up by the Hollywood set designer for Gone With the Wind to fit the French Quarter architecture and Disney artists decorated the interior.
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(#3) The Waiting List Is Nearly 15 Years Long
This Club 33 fan website states that membership "like all good things, requires patience," but they don't tell you what they mean is 14 years or more of patience. This is the potential wait time to even be considered for membership.
The number of available memberships offered per year depends on how many people leave the club. Club 33 is capped at 500 members, so only by someone leaving is a new member on the list able to join. Some years may see several memberships open up; it is, after all, a very expensive membership to maintain. Other years will have zero openings. In 2012, the waitlist reopened after being closed for five years and added a new exclusive club at Disney's California Adventure, called 1901, to the mix.
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(#4) The Cost Of Membership Is Crazy Expensive
There's a hefty fee to be a VIP member of Disneyland's Club 33. The current prices aren't advertised anywhere, but older reports show the cost includes an initiation fee of $40,000 for corporate memberships and $25,000 for individual memberships, with annual dues of $10,000.
And food and drink costs aren't included with those fees. Depending on the meal, your bill can cost upwards of $100 a person for the most minimal items on the menu. However, if you are getting into Club 33 as the guest of a member, you'll also need to pay for entry into the park (unless your friend has the elite Premium membership, which includes 50 passes for guests a year). As of 2017, the cost of entrance to Disneyland alone was $97 for a non-peak day.
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(#5) Membership Perks Include An Annual Pass And Character Appearances On Demand
Membership to Club 33 is the only ticket to boozeland in Disneyland. But membership comes with an annual pass that gets members into Disneyland Resort and Disney's California Adventure. They also get complimentary valet parking at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, exclusive access to various park events, and, since 2012, access to Disney California Adventure's new private lounge in Carthay Circle, 1901.
As if all of that wasn't lux enough, members can also request their favorite characters visit them while dining. All they have to do is make the request ahead of time. Dinner with Donald Duck on demand; not bad.
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(#6) Better Dress To Impress If You Snag An Invite To The Club
Creating an air of elegance and high-class style, Club 33 adheres to a very strict dress code policy. Your basic theme park clothes won't cut it if you expect to gain entry. To allow enjoyment of the park on the same day as a trip to the club, casual attire is permitted for lunch. But watch out, this excludes tank tops, cutoffs, bare midriffs, sweatpants, or any sort of beach wear, and shorts need to be walking length and jeans cannot be faded or torn. For dinner, guests should wear evening casual attire, such as collared shirts, slacks, and informal dresses, but no shorts of any kind are allowed in.
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(#7) Members Enter Through A Discreet Door With A Thorough Check-In
The entryway to the club is tucked away at 33 Orleans Street in New Orleans Square. It used to be an incognito door next to the exit of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and is now next to the a gift shop called Le Bat en Rouge. When the club is ready to allow entry via reservation, members tap their membership card over an emblem at the door. Non-members must enter Club 33 by pressing a buzzer on an intercom hidden underneath an inconspicuous panel on the doorway. The check-in area spans out into the open-air courtyard called the Court of Angels. Both members and non-members will be escorted to the second floor where they can drink and dine at the restaurant and lounge.
Prior to a major remodeling in 2014, the entrance was located at 33 Royal Street and access to Club 33's second level was via an antique glass elevator, which Disney's engineer's faithfully replicated from an elevator in Paris, France.
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(#8) The Dining Area Provides The Best View In Disneyland
Le Grand Salon is the upstairs dining room intended for formal and reserved-seating meals. Le Grand Salon is open for both lunch and dinner and offers a menu stocked full of French and New American cuisine.
Aside from offering exquisite food selections as part of their multi-course meals, members and guests are allowed to venture out on the balcony overlooking the park. It's from this balcony that guests have the best view of New Orleans Square and the Rivers of America, as well as the best seat for the nightly showing of the Fantasmic light show.
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(#9) Le Salon Nouveau Is A Jazz Club Fit For A King
A newer attraction in Club 33 is its highly popular Salon Nouveau. To get to this classy jazz lounge, one passes through a hallway full of wine closets fully stocked with all the fancy booze a person could desire. The Salon Nouveau is where members might stop by on a visit to the park when they don't intend to eat a full meal in the dining room.
The lounge is much more intimate and features a bar made to look like it was carved by hand and a grand piano that can stream live concerts from around the world. Not a bad way to rest one's feet after a day of walking through the park.
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(#10) The Decor Is A Historical Tour Of Disney Through The Years
Upstairs, the club is filled with antique pieces collected by Lillian Disney. Lined with Disney memorabilia, members and guests can view stunning relics of Disney's past. Some such treasures include hand-painted animation film cells from the making of Fantasia and film props like an ornate walnut table with a white marble top that was a set piece in Mary Poppins. There's also a large harpsichord - custom made for Lillian Disney - that not only contains hand-painted art straight from the hands of Disney artists, but has been played by musical legacies such as Sir Elton John.
Le Salon Nouveau and Le Grand Salon each contain their own charming relics from Disneyland over the years. The old elevator that once transported Club 33-ers to the second floor is now a booth in Le Salon Nouveau and the animatronic technology Walt Disney so loved is installed in the form of moving animals perched around the club.
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(#11) The Food Is A Mouthwatering Barrage Of Top Notch Cuisine
Both the main dining hall, Le Grand Salon, and the jazz lounge, Le Salon Nouveau, offer a menu of select items, all of which will cost a pretty penny. Meals available in Club 33 are "very expensive" with patrons claiming meals have cost them upward of $100 per person.
The full-course meals offered at Le Grand Salon are stocked with upscale menu items that come in multiple courses, including dessert. King crab-stuffed lobster tail, Colorado lamb chops, and an all-you-can eat dessert bar await Club 33's valued patrons, along with wine-pairings galore. Le Salon Nouveau offers a flight menu, where guests can sample the selections offered at the Grand Salon. Luckily, Disneyland offers a ton of other great restaurants and food carts.
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(#12) Joining The Club Isn't Impossible, But It's Tough
Access to the club comes in one of two ways. A member of the club can personally grant you entrance as one of their guests, though they will either need to provide you a pass into the park (if they are an elite "Platinum member") or you'll need to pay your own way in. The second way into the club is by inching up the waiting list and shelling out the necessary dough to become a member.
A person can become a member individually or through a corporate membership. In order to be accepted, applicants must submit a handwritten letter of inquiry and, when selected, they are put through a rigorous background check.
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(#13) Disneyland Isn't The Only Disney Park With An Exclusive Club
Although the original Club 33 has its roots in the heart of New Orleans Square, it has spread out to the international Disney parks of the world. There are now exclusive VIP clubs located in three Disney parks. The other two are located in Tokyo Disneyland and in Shanghai Disneyland. Walt Disney World's four parks will soon have their own VIP flare with the introduction of a Club 33 in each individual park. Unfortunately for current Disneyland Club 33 cardholders, the membership is non-transferable between resorts.
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Club 33 is known as one of the most secret places in the world, which located at the axis of Disney Plaza in New Orleans. There is a striking and gorgeous address plate engraved on the door of this private club. The club has always been shrouded in a strong atmosphere of mystery, its members are very rare and their name is never known to outsiders. In 1967, Walt Disney decided to have a private place to entertain sponsors and some guests, then Disneyland’s unique club No. 33 became famous.
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